Windows 10 Upgrade Your World Initiative: Beagle Freedom Project wins; more chances to vote for your favorite nonprofits in 10 countries

REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 1, 2015 /CNW/ -- Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced the winner of the 10th global nonprofit organization partner for the Upgrade Your World initiative, the Beagle Freedom Project. Microsoft also announced that people can vote via social media for a chance for their favorite local nonprofit in 10 different countries to receive a donation.

Microsoft celebrated the launch of Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, by committing to Upgrade Your World, a yearlong initiative that celebrates people and organizations doing great things, including a series of partnerships with 10 global and 100 local nonprofit organizations. Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and organization to achieve more. Upgrade Your World is just one example of the many ways Microsoft contributes to local communities worldwide, as Microsoft and its employees donate more than $1 billion each year to more than 100,000 nonprofit organizations around the world.

"With Windows 10 we are celebrating people who are doing great things, and it has been humbling to see the fantastic work people and organizations around the world are doing to upgrade the world. From Australia to China to the U.S., we've been inspired by the great work of organizations like Random Acts, Cure Batten and Do Something," said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president, Windows and Devices, Microsoft. "We congratulate the Beagle Freedom Project as our new global partner and look forward to seeing the amazing work it will continue to do as part of #UpgradeYourWorld. We also look forward to celebrating an additional 100 organizations around the world over the coming months."

Beagle Freedom Project becomes the new global partner for Upgrade Your World 

Microsoft selected nine global nonprofit organizations and asked people to vote for the 10th. With more than 2,000 organizations nominated, Microsoft announced the winning organization, the Beagle Freedom Project. Beagle Freedom Project's mission is to save the lives of laboratory animals and change the lives of people through these rescue operations. The organization rescues, rehabilitates and finds homes for animals used in research laboratories across the globe. Through these rescues, Beagle Freedom Project tells their stories in an effort to educate the public about animal testing and encourage dialogue about better science and alternatives to using animals for testing, resulting in the advancement of animal and human welfare.

In addition to a monetary donation of $500,000, the Beagle Freedom Project will receive Microsoft technology, services and promotional support.

"Beagle Freedom Project is honored to be the winner of the Microsoft Upgrade Your World initiative. Knowing that a company like Microsoft is using its position to help charities such as ours is a testament to its compassion for helping those in need," said Shannon Keith, president of Beagle Freedom Project. "We look forward to working with Microsoft to grow our nonprofit mission of saving animals from laboratories and hopefully in the future replacing animals with more modern forms of testing that save human and animal lives alike."

Local #UpgradeYourWorld voting starts now in 10 countries

As part of the global Upgrade Your World initiative, Microsoft will be spotlighting 100 local nonprofit organizations making an impact in the following 10 countries: Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States. Microsoft has already identified 50 of the nonprofit organizations (five of the 10 in each country) to receive a monetary donation of $50,000 each, and invites people around the world to vote for their favorite local nonprofit organizations in each country to help select the additional 50 organizations. The top five vote-getters in each country will receive a donation, joining the 50 nonprofits already chosen. In all, 10 organizations in 10 countries will each receive $50,000, totaling $5 million. To cast a vote for an organization, post on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using #UpgradeYourWorld[country abbreviation, U.S. example: #UpgradeYourWorldUSA], #vote, and tag the @[nonprofit].

September's Upgrade Your World global nonprofit partner is Save the Children

During September, Microsoft is joining forces with Save the Children to support its efforts to invest in children's lives by giving them the opportunity to learn and be ready to succeed in school. Save the Children works in the world's most vulnerable places, from America to Zimbabwe, saving one child at a time. For example, Save the Children is providing services in a community situated in remote, mountainous northern Vietnam where nearly half of the households are below the poverty line and more than 20 percent of the population is illiterate. More can be learned here and by watching this video from Vietnam to see the impact Save the Children is having.

"We are really proud to be the featured nonprofit for Windows 10 in September. As children in the United States and in many countries head back to school this month, we want to shine a spotlight on the importance of early education and the preschool teachers who inspire us all," said Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children. "For example, in northern rural Vietnam rock stars like Sung Thi Kim — a college-educated preschool teacher who came back to her remote village to make a difference — are upgrading our world by giving children a foundation for success in school and life."

To further Save the Children's mission, Microsoft is providing the organization with a software upgrade, empowering its global team to continue to effectively serve its mission.

Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Video - http://youtu.be/YiO2o79XVnc 
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom Communications, [phone], [email protected], http://www.microsoft.com